Israel appoints first Muslim female military Arabic interpreter

Tel Aviv: In a rare move, the Israeli military has announced the appointment of Major Ella Wavia as its new military interpreter for the Arabic language. The Muslim female officer will take over in the coming weeks from Colonel Avichai Idraei, who has been in the role for the past 20 years and is now set to retire. Major Ella Wavia, 36, known on social media as “Captain Ella,” is one of the Israeli military’s leading Muslim Arab female officers. She will be promoted to lieutenant colonel. Ella Wavia was born in the Arab town of Qalansuwa in central Israel and voluntarily joined the Israeli army in 2013. She initially kept her enlistment a secret from her family. She currently serves as Colonel Idris’ deputy and is also quite active on social media, with nearly 500,000 followers on TikTok and 200,000 on X. Ella Wavia’s appointment is being hailed as a significant development in the context of the increasing representation of Arab citizens, especially Muslim women, in the Israeli army. Although Israel is a Jewish state, about 20 percent of its population is Arab, including Muslims, Christians and Druze. Under the Israeli constitution, Druze and Circassian communities are required to enlist in the army and serve for a specified period.